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W1L.I. ATKINSON 

II 



L V-tU' J 



Copyright, 1910 

By 

WILT. ATKINSON. 



Metropolitan Press, Seattle, U. S. A. 



€CI.A278540 









®0 iffly iMntlirr 



Witl) a«rl| a mutl|pr: faUlt tu uwmmttktttJi 
iBrata itittlt I|tH hlaah, mih trust tu all tliiugs Iftgli 
(Cmura easy tu Ijim, aui> tliu' be trip aub fall 
^t altall uut liUuii l|ia auul hiitl) rlag." 



RAGGED HEROES 

■Frojn the Hungarian of Alexander Petofi. 

Rendered Into English Verse by 

Alice Stone Blackwell. 

I, too, could dress my verses up 

In rhymes and metres fair, 
As fits when we go visiting 

In fashion's pomp and glare. 

But my thoughts are not idle youths 

Who for amusement live. 
To go, in gloves and well-curled locks, 

Calls to receive and give. 

No sword rings now, no cannon booms ; 

Dim rust has quenched their rage ; 
Yet war goes on ; instead of swords. 

Ideas the battle wage. 



AmO'iig your warriors, O my Time! 

I combat as I can. 
'Tis by my poems I contend ; 

Each is a fighting man. 

Ragged but valiant lads are they, 
All brave in battle's press. 

A soldier's duty is performed 
By courage, not by dress. 

Whether my poems will survive 

I do not ask at all ; 
If in this battle they perchance 

Must perish, let them fall. 

This book that holds my dead ideas 
E'en then will sacred be, 

Because of heroes 'tis the grave 
Who died for Liberty! 



TO CRITICS 

If ye like not rhyme or meter, 
Think! The truth's the thing 

Other writers' rhymes are sweeter ; 
Have mine truth and sting? 



CONTENTS 

ST. PATRICK'S GOSPEL ^""^^ 

GIVE YE HIS DUE TO CAES AP '" 

CLIMB DOWN ^^ESAR ^g 

SOME CRAZY NOTIONS '' 

THE SONS OP TOIL. ^^ 

(An Answer to Rudyard' -w^'i'- " ', ^^ 

of Martha") "^'''^'^ Kiplmg's "Sons 

FREEDOM'S CALL 

"^mSELPlSHNESS mammon-can: " 

A SONG FOR THe"timeS ^^ 

THE PACKTHREADS OP THE L^^'w' ' " ' '' 

TO AMBROSE BIERCE "^^ ^^^^ " ' ' • 39 

EARTH'S GREATEST CROP '' 

PRAYER ^3 

DE PROPUNDIS. ... ■ ■ ■ • ^^ 

THE PIRE DIVINE ^^ 

PROGRESS AND POVERTY '' 

TO OUR SON ^I 

GRIT 53 

TYRANNY OR LIBERTY ^^ 

TO SOURDOUGHS ^^ 

CDME, LAMP OP GOD ^^ 

ALASKA'S CALL . ^^ 

63 



CONTENTS— ( Co^^^'^'^^'^O 

Page 

WHEN I.OVE ONCE COMES 6^ 

... 66 
TO JUNE g„ 

TO MY WIFE ^^ 

'TIS NOT LOVE ^^^ 

DESOLATE ^j^ 

HOME ^^ 

NOR TIME NOR TIDE 

AMID THE GLORIES OF THY NATIVE ^^ 

HEAVEN 

ERE DEATH BECAME MY DAILY ^^ 

GUEST l'^ 

MY HEART'S STILL THINE ^_ 

WHERE IS MY LOVE? ^=^ 

GRIEVE NOT THY SOUL ' ' 

MY SPIRIT SHALL STAY FREE ^^^ 

DIVORCE ^'^ 

THE MAN WHO'LL DARE 

AN ANSWER TO -THE SONG OF THE ^^ 

DRIFTWEED" 

THE LAW OF LIFE 

THROUGH SUFFERING TO JOY? 84 

AYE, OUT OF BITTER DARKNESS Sf. 



ST. PATRICK'S GOSPEL 

This fs St. Patrick's message, 
''Hear all 3/e sons of toil ! 

There is no hope for labor 
Till ye reclaim earth's soil ! 

"By Erin's ruined hamlets, 

By Erin's famine years, 
Hark to this God sent gospel, 

Fair fruit oi blood and tears! 

"The pirates who enslaved me 
And sold me o'er the main, 

Are kin to those who sell God's earth 
And so make slaves again. 

"Yet tell it not in anger, 

Proclaim it not in wrath, 
But as a gospel from above 

To show God's chosen path. 



17 



''Fling to the winds our banner, 
Fair flag of light and life, 

The Emerald with the sun-burst 
Foretelling end of strife! 

"Tear down the paper barriers 
That bar men from God's land ! 

Does any son of Ireland fear 
The weight of a dead hand? 

"By th' tears of exiled daughters, 
By th' blood of martyred sons, 

God's Earth is for the Living!'* 
St. Patrick's Gospel runs. 



18 



GIVE YE HIS DUE TO CAESAR 

The Fair Christ came! The Fair Christ 

passed awaj^! 
Has He no message for our later day 
When Dives denies Lazarus a crumb? 
When miser}'^ appeals and skies are dumb? 

Oh, ye of little faith and earth-bo-und eyes, 
Lift up your hearts and see Lord Christ 

arise! 
Hear ye once more the words of his dear 

lips 
Men's sophistries and cunning laws eclipse. 

"Give ye his due to Caesar!" "Yea, Lord, 

yea! 
We take shrewd toll from labor day by day 
That Caesar may be paid his meed of rent ! 
This law of Thine we keep! Be thou 

content!" 



19 



"We spin the wool and weave the linen 

fine , 1 

And reap the fields while Caesars robe and 

dine I , 

We, naked, lace the winters cold and 

Storm ^ 

To gather wood to keep our Caesar. 



warm. 



"In mines. Thy children, (who would fain 

be free . 

To play with flowers or swim m Thy blue 

sea) 
Are bound to stifling toil that Caesar may 

be paid ; , i ^ 

Why now repeat the words thou long hast 

said?" 
"Art sure the rents are Caesar's that ye 

WereTe bid slave for others day by day? 
Men i scant faith 1 From your own snares 

break free! 

. , 1 ,.nt God's, bind men to 

Mens laws, not «joq s, 

slavery!" 

20 



"Blind leaders of the blind! Hear yet 

again ! 
This earth God gave to all the sons of men ! 
The land is for the living! Our earth 

grieves 
O'er men's evil laws. Pay no rent to 

thieves! 



"Ye pay toil's dues to Caesar, and despoil 
Your children of the bread wrung from the 

soil. 
Take back the heritage the Lord God gave ! 
God made ye men ; men's laws have made 

the slave!" 



21 



CLIMB DOWN 

The peril in China is yellow! 
At home, here, the}^ say it is black ! 
There will ever be peril to some one 
Till man shall climb down from man's 
back! 

They have sung of our burdens out yonder, 
They have told us their morals are slack I 
But the white man's sore burden will 

vanish. 
When we get off the darker man's back! 

We may drive in the Bible with bayonets; 
We may set wear's grim liounds on his 

track. 
But we'll never do much for the brown 

man 
Till we take all our weight from his back! 



Do you wonder Christ's words merely mock 

him ? 
That he thinks Christian virtues we lack, 
When we take each week six days to 

plunder 
And put all our load on his back? 

Some at home take pleasure in slumming, 
To see how men live in a shack, 
But if from suffering you'd free him, 
Just get off the poorer man's back! 

Go'd's skies will grow golden with promise 
God's harvests will meet ev'ry lack. 
And brothers will all the wide world be, 
When we get off the other man's back! 



23 



SOME CRAZY NOTIONS 

Is it such a crazy notion ? 
John says he owns the ocean 

Because he caught a fish ! 
Yet laugh not jet, my brothers, 
It may be there are others 

Who see things as they wish. 

Here comes a lordling grand 
Who says he owns the land 

On which wt all must live! 
How can he own the earth? 
What gave that notion birth? 

What deed has man to give? 

God's message soundeth clear: 
"My living children here, 

There is all the land 
For use, but not for barter." 
This is our Gospel charter 

Given by God's own hand. 



24 



THE SONS OF TOIL 

An answer to Rudyard Kipling's "Sons of 

Martha." 
Heed not, my brothers, the lying story, 
Though the words come sweet from 
hone)^ed tongue 
And the light of genius lends them glory, 
'Tis an old, false tale his lips have sung. 

On the Sons of Martha he lays the curses 
That O'f old were laid on the Sons of 
Ham, 
And he gilds his lies in glowing verses 
That bid thieves prosper — the robbed be 
calm. 

This is his message to those who shiver 
Though through their toil the thieves 
are warm; 
"The Lord, who came from sin to deliver. 
He bids you — naked — go face the 
storm." 



'Tis is a mo'nstroiis tale those lines are 
telling 
Of a heathen God who scourges His 
sons, 
Who bids drones welcome to His dwelling 
But curses workers, this story runs. 

Where nakedness clothing for idlers is 
w^eaving, 
Where hunger reaps grain that idlers 
take, 
Where toilers are starving and wan and 
grieving, 
This is the land of the Devil Snake. 

Where those who hew wood are cold and 
shiver. 
While idlers are warm by the fires they 
fed. 
Where the sons of toil in agony quiver. 
Though altar fires burn — true faith is 
dead. 



List, ye world of the unbelieving, 

List, ye he miscalls Martha's sons, 
God has never sanctioned thieving, 
"In the sweat of thy brow" His message 
runs. 

Not in the sweat of the brows of others. 
Not from the fruit of others' toil, 

Not from the blood of these, thy brothers. 
But earn thyself, thy bread from the soil. 

Look ! Ye may read it whilst ye are running. 
Hark! Ye may hear it in every wind, 

Man's laws may mark but devils' cunning, 
God's laws say heed the poor and blind. 

Who are the sons who seldom bother? 

Who but the Sons of Stolen Hoards? 
The Sons of To'il wrest from earth, their 
mother. 
Her bounteous blessings — to feed these 
lords. 



27 



'Tis the Sons of Toil who harness thunder, 

And drive their barks thro' the threat'- 

ning main: 

Their miracles waken the wide world's 

wonder, 

But the Sons of Hoards — take toll again. 

'Tis not from the words o-f Christ, the 
Worker, 
That the Sons of Hoards draw their so- 
called rights: 
He gave no blessing to drone or shirker 
But bade men work for all earth's de- 
lights. 

List to the words of God the Teacher, 
This is the w\ay His Gospel runs, 

"Deny not My bounty to any creature, 
This earth belongs to My Living Sons." 



28 



FREEDOM'S CALL 

When Dickens came to Boston 
What were the words he said? 
"There are no beggars on these streets 
Asking us ahns for bread." 

When Dickens came to Boston, 
What was the song we sang? ^^ 
''Oh! Come from ev'ry nation" 
To- Heaven the chorus rang. 

"Oh! Come from ev'ry nation! 
And come from ev'ry way! 
Come from all wide creation ! 
Haste! Make you no delay." 

"For Uncle Sam is rich enough 
To give you all a farm!" 
But now in place of welcome, 
We view them with alarm! 

That song rang o'er the mountains, 
'Twas heard across the sea! 
'Twas murmured in dark dungeons 
And sung there, fearfully! 

29 



The tyrant caught its echo 

And shuddered as he heard ! 

The bond slave, staggering to his task 

Grew stronger at that word ! 

For WT were then a world power 
And our flag floated high! 
For Greek or Turk or Slav or Pole 
Hope's star shone in our skj^ 

Aye, we were then a world power 
What need for armies then? 
Who'd strike at Freedom's refuge 
Knew he'd ne'er strike again ! 

For all the earth was stirring 
With hope of Freedom's cheer, 
Tho'Ugh slaves at home to despots, 
They stood as men w^hen here! 

From Ireland's ruined hamlets 
To far off Isles of Greese 
Our starry flag lived in the hearts 
Of all who sought release! 



30 



How have the mighty fallen! 
Have Freedom's blessings fled? 
Oh! help your recreant children 
Ye ho'Sts of mighty dead ! 

The men who flee from tyrants 
Find now no welcome here, 
Our hearts which once beat warmly 
Are cold with craven fear! 

Where once the wide world loved us 
And watched us from afar, 
And prayed for heaven's blessing 
On us, Hope's guiding Star, 

Now, wt build tariff barriers, 
Now, we, like heathen, trust 
In steel and shell and cannon, 
Which crumble into dust! 

Does freedom then forsake us? 
Nay! Hear her call again: 
"Trust no more in shot and shell 
Rise and again be men!" 



31 



'For ye a richer future 
Than carved by Europe's sword, 
For ye a grander service 
Than aping her War Lord!" 

"Sweep, sweep away the barriers 
That bar men from God's soil! 
Give to all their heritage, 
The full fruits of their toil!" 

'Then shall earth's sore oppressed 
Take heart of hope again ! 
And bless the starry banner 
Which out of slaves makes men!' 



"BUT UNSELFISHNESS MAMMON 
CANNOT BUY " 

Ye say that men are selfish and sodden 

deep in sin, 
Ye say that they obscure the light that 

shineth from within ; 
Yet how the dark clouds lighten, when 

we read on history's page, 
Stories that make earth brighten, of hero, 

seer and sage. 

The palaces of Pharaoh, with cooling shade 

and tower 
Moses left to live with slaves and dare that 

tyrant's power. 
He left the converse of the learned, the 

pleasures of the feast, 
To fight and toil and struggle for slaves 

regarded least. 



He led them forth from bondage, across 

the desert drear. 
To th' glories of th' Promised Land, which 

now we're seeking here; 
A land of milk and honey; with wondrous 

harvests blest, 
Where slaves found long-sought freedom, 

and all the weary, rest. 

His laws made all men equal, nor could 

tyranny abide. 
Before His courts of justice which humbled 

perverse pride. 
Read now the laws he taught them, and, 

if ye will, ye may 
Learn how to lead to freedom the slaves 

on earth todav! 



34 



Oh, men, whose hearts are bleeding for 

humanity's dark side, 
Lift up your eyes and read again how the 

great Gracchi died. 
Yet while rejoicing in their work, their 

casting self away, 
Think what their teaching still may mean 

to suffering ones today. 

Of all these great interpreters who taught 

God's way again. 
And showed how weak is selfish might 

against unselfish men. 
Forget not, ye who labor now, in midnight 

mine and forge. 
The words of God's great seer today, our 

martyred Henry George ! 



If still your hearts are troubled, and still 

the skies seem gray, 
Think of earth's myriad mothers who 

eschew self today. 
Soon shall their self denial shine, a beacon 

to the world. 
And man's laws be with God's aligned and 

sin's black flags be furled. 



36 



A SONG FOR THE TIMES 

Still are Thy martyrs dying ! 

Still are Thy saints in grief! 
Still are Thy children crying! 

Oh, God! Grant us relief! 
Thy little ones in slavery toil, 
The evil still the good despoil. 

Those who sowed not are reaping 
The grain which hunger needs. 

The poor are vainly weeping. 

Change our weak prayers to deeds! 

Bid all earth's wars and rapine cease 

That we may worship Thee in peace. 

Still shivering cold is bleeding. 
And blood stains Thy pure snow, 
Though still our toil is feeding 

The fires, w^e feel no glow. 
For human laws help greed in theft, 
And strenuous toil has nothing left. 



37 



Oh, mortal! Vain thy calling! 

God works not for us so. 
If still the gC'od are falling. 

And still thieves richer grow, 
Look for the cause thyself w^ithin, 
That thou dost weakly yield is sin. 

The laws which need repealing 
Were wrought by human hands 

They sanction sin and stealing 
And bar toil from our lands. 

Join idle hands to idle soil 

And God will bless us in our toil. 



38 



THE PACK THREADS OF THE 
LAW 

I saw a mighty giant lying prone upon the 
ground, 

His form was worn and wasted, his chil- 
dren all around 

Were thin and pinched by hunger, yet he 
made no move to rise, 

Though he could see their suffering and he 
could hear their cries. 

High walls rose all around them and they 

wTre crowded close ; 
Though green fields lay beyond them, they 

set no foot in those. 
And still the starving children wept 

though food was w^asting near ; 
They seemed subdued by suffering and 

cowed by causeless fear. 



39 



The fields without were fertile, fruit on 

the trees hung fair, 
The grain was piled in golden heaps, but 

it lay rotting there; 
Rats ran in and out the piles and they were 

fat and sleek, 
The children crowded in those walls were 

thin and wan and weak. 

"O giant, why lie idle there?" Then cried 

I in amaze. 
The giant slowly turned his head and 

looked with hopeless gaze. 
"The fields are rich with harvest, go reap 

that golden grain 
And give to those who' hunger to ease their 

gnawing pain." 

"The walls prevent," the giant said. "The 

fields are owned by men 
Who need my toil no longer, so they shut 

us in this pen ; 
I cannot rise, for I am bound and must lie 

helpless here, 
Though children die around me and I lose 

all I hold most dear." 

40 



Yet those walls were merely paper! And 

looking down I saw 
The giant was bound o^nly by the pack 

threads of the law! 
We dream w^e're slaves to others, but we 

are far more base ; 
Our own fears 'tis that bind us and with 

us all our race! 

If our own wives and children feel the 

pangs of hunger gnaw^ 
'Tis because we fear to break them, those 

thin threads of law! 
God gave no right to idlers to bar labor 

from the land ; 
Go, till those unused acres, trust in His 

Almighty Hand! 

The walls that bar from unused land, those 

walls were made by men ! 
Rise, ye who suffer, in your might, and 

tear them down again ! 
Rise, for yo-ur children and your homes! 

Take this for sign and shield, 
God's law^s are for eternity! Men's laws 
may be repealed ! 

41 



TO AMBROSE BIERCE 

I must exclaim against this thing 

(Though my protest may matter not) : 
It was not wine (has Bierce forgot?) 
Which poets drank of old. 
When from his soul a seer would sing, 
He sought the famed Pierian spring 
And drank its waters cold. 

Now, while our laws still sanction wrong. 
While children groan in mine and mart, 
While women walk with bleeding heart 
Along our great white w^ay. 
And find no pity in that throng, 
Are there not nobler themes for song 
Than folly's w^anton play? 



42 



EARTH'S GREATEST CROP 

Ho ! Seller in the market place, 
How fares our grain crop now? 
Devours the green bug still apace? 
Will sun or frost w^n in the race? 
Is it dry enough to plow? 



Ho ! Watcher in the market place, 
How fares our crop of men ? 
In cit}^ street, in city slum. 
Unheeded, little children come, 
Shall they grow up to do God's will, 
Or labor for the devil still ? 

Ho! Lawyer in earth's judgment hall, 
Is justice jest and play? 
Do rich and poor as equals stand 
Before your law's avenging hand? 
Art ready, ye, to hear God's call 
And face His court today? 

Ho! Statesmen, ye who make men's laws 

Learn wisdom from the past ; 

If your laws yet defy God's will 

And ro'b toil of its earnings still, 

Driving our babes to mine and mill. 

How may our Nation last? 

43 



PRAYER 

It is not prayer when with our tongues we 

say 
"We love Thy laws, Oh Lord ; and pray 

Thee guard 
Our hearts from harm and feet from 

slipp'ry w^ay;" 
Then straight seek out sin's paths His laws 

have barred. 

It is not prayer to fold our hands and ask 
Our God to shield us from our human law\s 
That bind our children to soul-wracking 

task; 
Ours is the crime ; ours to remove the 

cause. 

His sun and showers our yearly harvests 

bring; 
His days are filled with plenteous reward ; 
To greed and crime O'ur laws His blessings 

fling, 
And hunger bar from bread, with legal 

sword. 

44 



Prayer is the work our busy hands have 

wrought, 
Not the weak words our lips have feebly 

said : 
Prayer is the act that bane or blessing 

brought ; 
Words without deeds are profitless and 

dead. 

Would you pray truly? Break the barriers 

down 
That fence earth's soil from hungry toilers' 

needs. 
Fear neither human law, nor human frown 
That mock God's laws. Prayers are not 

words, but deeds. 



45 



DE PROFUNDIS 

Two thousand years the earth has heard 
Thy story 
Two thousand years of sin and want and 
crime ! 
And still we watch the heavens for Thy 
glory 
And still we wait the coming of Thy 
glad new time. 

Canst Thc'U not hear the mourning mothers 
sighing? 
Wilt Thou not heed truth's martyrs 
when they call? 
Dost Thou not hear Thy starving children 
crying? 
Oh ! is it nought to Thee when truth's 
brave banners fall? 



4C 



Beneath the march of wrong the weary 
world is reeling, 
Truth and right b}^ armored might are 
often overborne, 
Men worship hoarded wealth though it be 
got by stealing, 
When will night pass and usher in Thy 
w^elcome morn ? 

The weary widow nettles to- her hungry 
babe is feeding. 
With arduous toil and care her patient 
back is bent. 
The earth lord takes the food that famished 
child is needing 
Calling this tribute wrung from want 
his proper rent. 

Come, Lord, and succor us! See, at Thy 
shrine we're kneeling, 
On this wricked, sinful world avenge thy 
slaughtered saints. 
Art deaf to our complaints? Wilt not an- 
swer O'ur appealing? 
Beneath life's burdens overborne mark 
how Thy martyr faints. 

47 



"Oh ! Mortal ! Vain and frivo-lous is thy 
complaining 
Doth earth not yield to toil her harvest of 
increase ? 
Shines not the sun? Are fields not thankful 
for the raining? 
The seasons come and pass; go reap their 
fruits in peace. 

Go, clear the fertile fields from brambles of 
man's sowing, 
Abolish all man's laws which steal from 
those who- toil, 
Then in freedom's fruitfulness, thy blessings 
will be growing 
The bounty of full harvests shall spring 
from all earth's soil. 

Not from God's laws but human laws are 
children dying, 
'Tis not God's laws but man's which 
make the righteo'us moan, 
Abolish evil laws if thou wouldst stop 
earth's sighing. 
End all the laws that now^ deprive fair 
labor of her own. 

48 



I give the sons of man the wide earth for 
their plowing, 
I feed with rain the thirsty soil and cause 
the sun to shine, 
I give to labor all earth's yield for man's 
endowing 
Who are these idle lordlings who dare 
to say "Tis mine?' 

Align man's laws with mine if thou wouldst 
My will be doing 
And cause earth's slaughtering and pilfer- 
ing to cease, 
This only will prevent man after man pur- 
suing 
And will usher in the glory of the thou- 
sand years of peace." 



49 



THE FIRE DIVINE 

How felt Prometheus on the rock 

When hunger, heat and thirst pursued ? 

When his head felt the tempest's shock 
Was his bold soul by fear subdued? 

When vulture's beak and talons tore 

The flesh o-f fire's first conqueror 

What was his prayer, what was his 
mood? 

His soul from man's cause never swerved, 
Though nerves were racked and body 
bled ; 

Listen, ye earthborn, whom he served, 
Hear what the proud Prometheus said, 

"God grant the fire I kindle here, 

May nevermore be quenched by fear, 

But may men cheer though I be dead." 

Though racked my soul and my friends 
fled 
Kindle my heart with kindred fire 
Oh, God of great Prometheus dead. 
Let me, too, dare the tyrant's ire, 

Who filch from want and steal toil's 
bread. 

50 



PROGRESS AND POVERTY 

The lightning of the angry gods wears now 

our ball and chain, 
We've harnessed all the winds that blow 

and tides that swell the main.. 
Our sun's bright rays create new days 

where nature fixed the nights, 
And now we dare to ride the air and mock 

the eagles' flights. 
Yet where our grand cathedrals rise with 

sculptured arch and fane 
Our women feebly fight for food, and fight 

for food in vain; 
Our little children helpless lie in squalor, 

want and dirt, 
And through the organ's vibrant peal ring 

cries of mortal hurt. 
We've turned the torrents from their 
course and bade them work for man, 
To ev'ry question fate may ask we swiftly 

say "I can ;" 
At this new riddle of the sphinx, which 

clouds our midday sky, 
Shall we, like men bend to this task or fold 
our hands and cry? 

51 



If hunger reaps, yet may not eat, our 
bounteous fields of grain, 

If cold feeds still the close-fenced fires, 
while greed counts still its gain. 

If nakedness yet weaves the cloth that idle- 
ness doth seize. 

And shivering men, who fuel bring, are 
left without to freeze. 

If children toil through night's bleak hours, 

amid the midnight's grime, 
Pale, w^eazened mockeries of men, made old 

before their time. 
It is because we fear to take the heritage 

God gave 
And, where our sires for freedom fought, 

we crouch and play the slave. 

Then up, be men, and strike one blow for 

Freedom, God and Right, 
Our martyred sires of every age are with 

us in this fight! 
This earth is all our heritage from God's 

Almighty Hand, 
Take for a weapon Single Tax and with it 

free the land ! 

52 



TO OUR SON 

In coming days, when they shall say to thee 
"Thou canst not see thy mother," dear 

son, say 
"I see her in the foam capped waves at sea 
Whose white souls may not vie with hers; 
She shed all troubles as the sea sheds spray ; 
I see her lofty nature in those firs 
Whose gothic arches call God's worship- 

pers. 

Each rose of her dear loveliness may tell, 
And every lily murmurs forth her praise, 
The violet speaks her sweetness in its dell, 
The golden rod may measure forth her 

w^orth. 
Whose gold was heaven's own and no't of 

earth. 
The sunflower types her faithful so'ul that 

stays 
Fixed ever to the sun that she loves wtII. 



And when amid a field of ripening wheat 
A breeze may ripple it like waves at sea, 
So was the golden glory of her hair. 
And all things lovely, if they be complete 
Must some way in her tender radiance 

share. 
Weak are all words to tell her loss to me, 
So softly bound in love's sweet bonds, yet 

free. 

Where, gently murmuring, wooing waters 

meet 
"This holds," then say, "some hint of her 

sweet voice 
Which bade all hearts that heard her to 

rejoice." 
If perched upon some lofty mountain seat 
Thou seest an eagle fly straight at the sun. 
So straightly flew her soul to heaven won 
Rejoicing over sin and death's defeat. 



54 



And when on cloudless day or starry night 
Thou seest the wondrous blues of Heaven's 

skies, 
They cannot match the splendors of her 

eyes 
Which were twin lovely wtUs foT truth's 

delight. 
Nor wealth of ivory nor mounts of snow 
Might vie wnth those sweet breasts that 

lay below, 
Where oft thy head has lain ; she loved thee 

so. 

And if in some great conflict yet to come, 

Thou mayst shed thy young blood for 
liberty, 

Thank God for that; and though no mar- 
tial drum 

Nerve thee for death, then, to thine inner 
ear 

Shall come thy mother's voice; hark well 
to hear, 

"This bliss, dear son, I've asked that 
Heaven grant me," 

Then nobly die, because she lives in thee, 

55 



GRIT 

When the bugles ring out their wild chal- 
lenge 

And bid us charge straight for the wall 
How little we care for the danger, 

How dances our blo'od at the call, 
We spur at the ramparts together 

And shrink not though brothers may fall. 

But when the black midnight aw^akes us 
To face some stark danger alone, 

How fares it with you then, my brother, 
Can you stifle the sound of your groan, 

And bravely meet odds, though appalling. 
And w^ounded make never a moan? 

And when the black steeds of disaster 
Come galloping down the dark glen. 

And ever they come, fast and faster 
And you are alone with them then, 

In those anguished hours are you master 
With your courage unnoted by men? 



56 



When loneh^ and heartsick with anguish 
Can you listen to some brother's tale 
And bid him work on and be cheerful 

And smother _vour own heart's sad wail? 
Can you bid him meet fate with high 
courage 
Though the star of your hope has grown 
pale? 

Yet frail women, whom shadows make 
fearful, 
Who shudder at danger and pain, 
And at mere thought of bloodshed are 
tearful 
Can brace up our coiu'age again 
And help us face fate and be cheerful. 
Then why of men's grit are we vain? 



TYRANNY OR LIBERTY 

Two roads there are which lie before us 

plain : 
Two roads, whose end all who look long 

may see ; 
The one leads back to tyranny and pain, 
And one leads on to blessed liberty. 

Signposts there are; some made by faltering 

men 
Whose vision never rose 'bove mire and 

clod ; 
And some there are which stir men's souls 

again 
For they were painted by the hand of God ! 

Restrictions are the weapons tyrants wield : 
Not by their use may we make all men free : 
We must abolish laws which are crime's 

shield 
If we would end all war and tyranny. 



5S 



We have forged paper fetters for God's 

soil ! 
We bar the unused earth from hungry 

men ! 
We must release these lands tO' those who 

toil 
And give them back their heritage again. 

We must abolish! Let God's laws have 

sway 1 
Wipe out men's laws which work but evil 

still! 
Then, then, shall dawn that brighter, fairer 

day, 
When man, unhindered, shall work out 

God's will ! 



59 



TO SOURDOUGHS 

Yo'U have climbed sky tovv'ring glaciers 

You have mushed in through the snow 
You have learned the lore of ages 

Only the brave may know; 
You have forced from Death his secrets 

Though he buffets you about, 
Yet the Guggenheims will get you 

If you don't watch out. 

You may win your game w^ith Fortune 

Though you know Death co'gs the Dice, 
You have left behind the sunshine 

To face bleak worlds of ice, 
You have conquered myriad perils. 

Undeterred by fear or doubt 
But the Guggenheims w^ill get you 

If vou don't watch out. 



60 



More treacherous than the river. 
Where the thin ice masks its flow, 

Far keener than the wolf's sharp fangs, 
Colder than sleet or snow, 

Is their devouring maw of greed, 
More cruel than the knout. 

For the Guggenheims have got you 
If you don't watch out. 

Their methods are the wolf pack's, 

Their morals are the stye's, 
They wring their gold from famine 

And heed not hunger's cries. 
Oh, Alaskans, rise and fight them, 

Drive their hireling crew to rout. 
Such thieves are only dangerous 

When you don't watch O'Ut. 



61 



COME, LAMP OF GOD 

"Come, Lamp of God and light 

The darkness of our earth! 
Make life's dim corners bright 

With a celestial birth, 
For sorro'W, sin and strife shall reign 
Till Thou dost claim Thine own again. 

Come, Lamp of God, we must 
Test our crude laws by Thee ! 

Oh, teach us to be just! 
We dwTll in slavery. 

If Thy light in our eyes should burn 

For perfect truth our hearts w^ould yearn. 

Come, Lamp of God, the sky 

Is black with human woe. 
They twist Thy laws awry 

Who reap, yet do not sow. 
Oh, teach us to be brothers just 
Ere all our frames dissolve in dust. 



62 



ALASKA'S CALL 

Strong arms and stouts hearts, 

List to fair Alaska's call ! 
"Here's welcome to the willing! 

Here is room and wealth for all ! 

"Yours — come reach out and take them- 
Are the fish that swim my seas! 

Yours my gold and tin and copper- 
Come and share my wealth of these ! 

"Not alone on sea and mountain 
Are there fortunes to be won ; 

I have fields that need but tilling 
And their gold outshines the sun ! 

"There are millions of my acres 
Where now^ but wild grass waves, 

To make homes for sturdy freemen ; 
Will ye linger south as slaves?" 

Strong arms and stout hearts, 

List to fair Alaska's call! 
Here a royal realm awaits you! 

Here is room and wealth for all ! 



63 



WHEN LOVE ONCE COMES. 

When Love once comes, love comes to stay 
forever, 
Heed not the idle tales that Love may 
fade away. 
When Love once comes, he comes to part, 
ah, never! 
He'll be your constant guest, forever and 
a day. 

Love's not all immortal and Love sometimes 
may sleep. 
When he sleeps, you may dream, that 
Love has fled away. 
Let not your heart be troubled, drink not 
of grief too deep. 
For Lo've shall waken blithely when 
dawns our bright new day. 



64 



Fancies come a trooping when distance fond 
hearts sever, 
Sordid cares and worries may fright our 
love awhile, 
But there's nothing earthly may part true 
hearts forever. 
You'll banish all your worries if you greet 
them with a smile. 

Hand in hand we've walked adown Love's 
flower bordered alleys, 
Bitterness and woe have fled the sun- 
shine of 3 our smile; — 
True happiness still waits us in violet 
studded valleys, 
Soon we'll cross care's mountains and 
linger there awhile. 



TO JUNE 

Dear love, our rugged English speech 

Is all too cold and harsh and rough 
To speak my love. It cannot reach 

Love's height divine, nor tell enough 
The rapturous ecstacy I feel. 

Teach me, svv'eet, the heavenly lore 
Of thy true eyes, whose depths reveal 

Love's wealth, which I knew not hefore. 
Then may I tell thee, soul to soul 

And heart to heart and eye to eye, 
In that sweet speech no lips control 

I'll love but thee, dear, till I die. 



66 



TO MY WIFE 

Gilder sings, "So Heaven but thy cup fill 
Be empty mine, through all eternity." 
When thy cup's full, mine cannot empty be 
Since all my happiness is serving thee, 
And all I am is subject to thy will. 
If I have strength, 'tis for thy service, 

sweet ; 
What skill is mine shall smoother fo-r thy 

feet 
Make life's rugged pathway: What little 

wit 
God gave me is but to make better fit 
For thy fair soul our earthly dwelling place 
Till Heaven shall claim again thy heavenly 

grace. 



67 



'TIS NOT LOVE 

'Tis not love, though It may wear love's 
seeming 
That Cometh in the sun to flee when 
shadows fall 
Oh, shame not love by such an idle dream- 
ing, 
Shadow time to true love is the sweetest 
time of all ! 

Walking close in sunshine, when all life's 
lanes look charming 
To flee from thy love when clo'uds close 
like a pall. 
We taste not the joy of shelt'ring love from 
harming, 
When the skies frown blackest is love's 
dearest time of all. 



DESOLATE 

I am thrice armed 'gainst any storm that 

blows, 
My naked breast is open to the snows, 
I can, undaunted, now face any fate 
For thou, my love, hast left me desolate. 

Poor is my purse, but rich my mem'ries are. 
Worm of the earth, I dared to wed a star; 
The star has gone, 3'et I mourn not my fate 
Though thou, my love, hast left me 
desolate. 

Thou canst not rob me of the glories past, 
Thy love may change, its memory shall last, 
Then welcome death, though it come soon 

or late 
^Jy peerless love has left me desolate. 



69 



HOME 

Drear, drear, has been the night 
With its black shadows falling, 

When storm clouds hid the light 
And beasts of prey were calling, 

And somber shapes of darkness 

Mid shadovv's loomed appalling. 
But soon we'll go back home. 

Our day of joy will come, 

Oh, sweetheart, doubt it never! 

Nor time nor tide nor strife 
May part true hearts forever, 

Nor storm nor sea nor stress 

Shall serve our hearts to sever, 
Some day we'll go back home. 

Then bitter shall be sweet, 

Lo ! the day is drawing nearer. 

Guard now your stumbling feet 

The dawn will soon shine clearer! 

There's the lark's song now. 

Open wide your heart to hear her ! 
We're going back home! 



NOR TIME NOR TIDE 

Nor time, nor tide 

Nor distance then shall keep 

Thy loving heart from mine in days to 

come. 
When I lie down to sleep 
'Neath the soft grasses closely by thy side 
Thine eyes shall speak, though thy dear 

lips stay dumb. 
Canst thou not see 
Through Death's obscuring veil, 
How my heart yearns for thy soft loving 

touch ? 
Though I succeed, I fail, — 
For I lack everything while wanting thee, 
But must plod patient o^n, enduring much. 
This hope endures 
Thy love outlasts all things, 
E'en death cannot o'er thy sweet love 

prevail. 
Wealth flies on unseen wings, 
Dangers thicken, friends flee, yet nought 

obscures 
Thy love; that shall be mine, though all else 

fail. 



AMID THE GLORIES OF THY 
NATIVE HEAVEN 

Amid the glories O'f thy native Heaven 

Dost thou, love, ever say 

"How brief a span was our bright dream 

on earth. 
How short that blissful day. 
We had but tasted once of Love's full store 
When God called me away?" 

From Heavenly fields and ever cloudless 

skies. 
From suns that never set, 
Dost thou look down upon this sin stained 

earth 
With longing and regret? 
Among Heaven's sons — the God anointed 

ones 
Oh, dost thou love me yet? 

I know thou dost; no bliss of Paradise 
Could turn thy love aside. 
It was on earth a foretaste sweet of Heaven 
Storm proof though tempest tried; 
Nor ever flaw its perfectness did mar 
Since thou wert first my bride. 

72 



ERE DEATH BECAME MY DAILY 
GUEST 

Ere Death became my daily guest 

I had high hopes and daring dreams. 

Now life is one long prayer for rest, 

I sigh for her I loved the best 

Who made this earth all Heaven seems. 

''God knov^eth best!" I strive to say, 
My heart rebellious, spurns the rod. 
My thoughts are with thee every day 
Sw^et saint, still save me when I stray 
Till we two sleep beneath the sod. 



73 



MY HEART'S STILL THINE 

If, sweetheart, when tho-ii didst walk with 
me. 
With patient step the rugged roads of 
earth. 
Thy purer faith then helped my soul to see 
Duty's rough pathway, — this diviner 
birth 
Men miscall death, brings greater power 
to thee 
To make my life of nobler, higher worth. 

My heart's still thine; though thou art far 
away. 
My body 's thine ; though thou art in the 
skies ; 
My soul is thine; oh mould me as the clay 
By potter's fingers, deft and strong and 
w^ise, 
(Though with its brother clods long time 
it lay) 
Is beautified till fit for Paradise. 



WHERE IS I\IY LOVE? 

The brooks have broken from the ice king's 

power 
And dance down snowy hill sides in their 

glee; 
The wooing sun earth's heart stirs moTe 

each hour, 
The wondrous niAster)^ of spring is here ; 
Where is my love that comes not back to 



From death the flowers spring to quickened 

life, 
And leaflets burst from every budding tree. 
O'er death they triumph in the endless 

strife, 
This miracle of life from death we see. 
From death, oh wife, canst thou not come 

to me? 

If I walk blindly, wert thou not mine eyes? 
Shall I not stumble with thy light with- 
drawn ? 
If I should falter, need it bring surprise? 



I walk in darkness for thou wert my dawn, 
Fain would I follow w^here thy feet have 
gone. 

Yet, since I may not follow^ for a space, 
I'll strive to meet thy washes as when here, 
That I may meet thee some day face to face 
In that new home thy presence shall make 

dear ; 
In that sweet hope I'll patient run life's 

race. 

I'll greet thy beauty in each blooming 

flower, 
I'll hear thy voice in every blithe bird's 

song, 
Thy memory, love, shall o'er ill fate have 

power. 
And 'guile the weary w^ay from seeming 

long. 
Despite all trials, thou shalt make me 

strong. 



76 



GRIEVE NOT THY SOUL 

Grieve not thy soul, oh mortal, 
Though sorrow's skies be gray. 

This day is but the portal 
To a more perfect day. 

Steep not thy soul in sorrow. 
But meet grief with a smile, 

There's a glorious tomorrow, 
And a golden afterwhile. 

So, sad though sorrow's seeming 
Sink not thyself in grief; 

Tomorrow's sun, bright beaming, 
Shall bring thee sweet relief. 



T7 



MY SPIRIT SHALL STAY FREE 

Though it ma}' be I cannot conquer fate, 

Fate shall not conquer me. 
My body may be bowed by grief ot chains, 

My spirit shall stay free. 

If strenuous toil shall fail some prize to win 

I will not weakly .yield, 
But boldly meet all foemen face to face 

Till borne back on my shield. 

Weaklings may drift with any turbid tide, 
I'll swim straight for the shore. 

Till strength be spent and angry surges 
whelm 
And mortal do no more. 



DIVORCE 

The envy bred of ignorance runneth our 

whole lives through, 
And so there comes divorce in our lives; 

we know what the old will do. 
And we hope to wed with an angel and not 

with human clay, 
So we seek afar for new virtues and cast 

those we've proven away. 
But there comes a time in our seeking when 

we know the old was best, 
A^nd we'd forfeit our hope of heaven to sob 

out our griefs on his breast. 



THE MAN WHO'LL DARE 

Hark to an old time Gospel 
Ye men, oppressed by care, 

Th' heavens above, the earth below 
Are all for the man who'll dare! 

Though fate beat down your buckler 
And fortune's lure prove snare. 

Yet, force the fighting further, 

The world's fo-r the man who'll dare! 

Still are seas unvexed by sailor, 

Still evil lurks in its lair; 
And childhood's crushed and moaning 
While we wait for th' man who'll dare. 

Are babes robbed of their birthright? 
Are children cumbered with care? 
In slav'ry th' days pass slowly 
While we wait for th' man who'll dare. 

He'll change man's laws which curse us. 
He'll conquer the realms of air! 

And toil worn babes shall bless him 
For Freedom — th' man who'll dare! 



AN ANSWER TO "THE SONG OF 
THE DRH^TWEED" 

'Ware the siren verses 
Jessie Mackay sings, 
Of men who are but driftweed 
The sport of baser things, 
Only windblown spindrift 
Of little worth or weight, 
Drifting, drifting, drifting 
Dumbly to our fate. 

Not for me such do-ctrine! 
I'll swim against the sea; 
'Spite its storms and surges 
My spirit shall stay free, 
And ever strive till some day 
I'll win a deathless goal, 
But I'll be no driftweed 
And I will own my soul. 



81 



Men there are a plenty, 
To gloss a tarnished past, 
Blame their sins on Heaven 
Claiming the die was cast 
Ages ere the earth was formed. 
But men who dare fight fate 
Mould the future with bare hands. 
These are the truly great. 



82 



THE LAW OF LIFE 

The law of life is service ! 

Slumber and sloth are death! 
'Tis as we w^ork for others 

We earn our right to breath. 

Nature gives fruit to workers, 
To labor and toil alone, 

She has no prize for idlers, 
Death she awards the drone. 

If, then, toilers are starving 
While idlers thrive, the cause 

Is human greed and blindness 
Which ignore Nature's laws. 



THROUGH SUFFERING TO JOY? 

Through suffering to joy? Through 

shadows deep to sun? 
Is this Thy teaching, Father? So doth the 

lesson run? 
Ah, no! Thy wisdom, Father, doth not 

guide us so. 
Through suffering to service, pain shall 

help us grow. 



S4 



AYE, OUT OF THE BITTER 
DARKNESS 

Aye, out of bitter darkness cometh light. 
Long, long ago the darkness blasted sight. 
The sun went down and all the earth was 

black. 
Yet though this world of mine seemed lost 

in wrack 
One star shone steady through the somber 

skies 
And smiled on me in blessing through your 

eyes ; 
And all Oh^mpus' nectar mocked your lips. 
Now e'en that star is shrouded in eclipse 
And all spring's blossoms mourn their lost 

perfume. 



God of our Fathers ! Grant me faith and 

trust 
Though all my world should crumble into 

dust! 
Help me to voice the prayer "God is just," 
Give me th' w^ill to lift those crushed be- 
neath life's wheel, 
The strength to shelter those the storm 

w^ould blast, 
The joy of bringing in Thy Commonweal 
The endurance to help others to the last. 



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